Nun, 85, testifies just days after violent sex assault outside Aliquippa church

An 18-year-old Aliquippa man was held for trial Thursday on multiple charges including rape and aggravated assault against an elderly Catholic nun.

The suspect, Andrew Bullock, displayed no emotion as the nun spoke from the witness stand at his preliminary hearing in the Beaver County Courthouse.

The victim wore a head brace on her injured jaw and was accompanied into the courtroom by her fellow nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden. The 85-year-old, 5-foot-2-inch retired nun spoke with clarity and courage from the witness stand.

"She's a very strong woman," said Jennifer Popovich, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case.

The nun testified that the man who attacked her was smiling as he approached her behind St. Titus Church as she was dropping off newspapers in a recycling box on Dec. 13. She told the court when her attacker exposed himself she knew she was in trouble. She said she "screamed and screamed" but he pulled her back as she tried to get away.

"He socked me in the jaw," she said, dislocating it so she couldn't scream. She said he locked his arm around her neck and squeezed. She testified that in that moment she thought "I'm going to die, I'm going to die."

The victim testified that after he pinned her to the ground, and pulled down her clothing, she blacked out. She repeated from the witness stand, "I was so terrorized, I was so terrorized."

"I was trying to stay alive," she told the court. She testified she did not remember being raped, but that her clothing was still down and she was exposed when she regained consciousness and sought help. Investigators had doctors gather material with a rape evidence kit, which has been submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab.

"She's gone through a horrifying experience and she was very brave, coming into court today and testifying about that experience," said Popovich.

Police testified that Bullock was picked up because he matched a suspect description provided by a witness. Aliquippa Officer Ryan Pudik testified that Bullock first denied, then later admitted to assaulting her. Pudik testified Bullock said he was threatened with a gun by a man to whom he owed money for crack cocaine, and that the man ordered him to attack the nun to get money.

The defense questions how that admission to the assault happened.

"Take a look at the purported circumstances under which that statement may or may not have been given," said Bullock's defense attorney, Ron Rojas, who notes that it came after repeated questioning over the course of hours.

"Obviously this is a horrific case. The religious, as well as the elderly, are populations you never think this type of crime would come to. Obviously it's disturbed not only our county and law enforcement, but the county as a whole, and we're obviously going to prosecute it to the fullest extent that we can," said Popovich.

"We as the defense understand the emotional impact. We think that some of the facts that were reported in the case were not established in the hearing today. Particularly with regard to the identification or lack thereof of my client," said Rojas.

"Poor sister. I understand what she went through," said Rojas. "However, on multiple occasions, including today in open court, she simply did not identify Andrew Bullock as the perpetrator of this crime or as her assailant."

District Judge Joseph Schafer ordered Bullock to be held for trial. Bullock is being held in the Beaver County Jail on $50,000 bond as he awaits trial.

The nun was released from a hospital Saturday and continues to recover from her jaw injury and other injuries she suffered in the attack. She and her fellow sisters are praying for the accused attacker, and they forgive him, Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik told WTAE on Monday.

"From her own heart, if she has the conviction in her heart to be forgiving of somebody who did such violence to her, that's got to be pretty sincere," Zubik said.

Sister Mary Pellegrino, a spokeswoman for the congregation, told WTAE on Tuesday that they have received messages of sympathy, prayer and support for the nun who was assaulted.

"What she said is that she wants to take that in, all that avalanche of prayer and support, take that into herself, and allow it to pass through her, so that she can send it out to all of the people all over the world who experience violence every day," Pellegrino said.

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